Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seth's Magical Adventure! ❯ Into the Citadel ( Chapter 15 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Takahashi does, and he doesn't think Seth would ever make a decent secret agent. I agree with that.

 

Unfortunately for Seth, waiting for Rath to leave the third floor seemed about as likely to happen as a tornado sparing one house out of millions, for an eternity seemed to stretch on as he sat in that laundry pile, crouching to remain hidden amongst the dirty linens. He could hear her speaking, but to whom was something he didn't know. He knew it wasn't Bakura, for his accent wasn't right, whoever Rath was talking to. Seth groaned angrily, wishing that she'd hurry up, but she was already on alert to someone's presence. Finally, she opened the door, though she didn't step out just yet, and Seth was too smart to peek over the linens to see what was happening. He waited silently.

 

“…and then we'll attack Egypt with this weapon. It's just a pity my uncle couldn't finish it before he fled,” Rath said, as another woman stepped out with her. This woman was tall, with a billowing blue gown that rippled like water. Her red hair fell to the floor, and her eyes, slitted as a snake's, glanced around the hallway before speaking.

 

“It's of no matter, Lord Rath,” she hissed, “My men can complete it in due time. But, what of Lady Sith? She poses the highest threat; everyone is becoming aware that she isn't yet deceased.” Rath's ears lowered and she growled with displeasure. She knew of her men's lack of loyalty to her, but there was nothing she could do; she needed them. Deciding to ignore that, she smiled.

 

“For now, we ignore her,” Rath replied, “There is nothing she can do; That blasted pharaoh requires her by his side. Likewise, we can't harm her, but in due time, she will be annihilated along with Egypt. It's the price she pays for siding with humans.” The other woman sighed, shaking her head. It was obvious there was something in Rath's plan that she disagreed with.

 

“Lord Rath, can we not use her to power up the machine?” she asked, but a quick glare from Rath silenced her.

 

“You are a fool, Katsaiga!” she exclaimed, “She is of Winchester blood! The machine would turn on me if we harmed her! No, we need another source. Luckily, I have one; a thief that worked in unison with my cousin. He has his magic… and no use by which to exercise it with. He is like a free sample of power. For now, we'll experiment on him.”

 

“But he is human, Lord Rath. How can he have magic?” Katsaiga asked her master, narrowing her eyes skeptically, “He is not half-Esper, is he?”

 

“No, but he has magic, and I refuse to let a human waste it,” Rath replied, “Now come. I wish to see this machine.” Katsaiga nodded, and the two women rushed down the hallway. Seth heard them climbing down the stairs, and then… silence. They were gone, and he was alone. Quickly, he climbed out of the basket, landing on the floor in a heap. What he heard was worrying; Bakura was in a lot of trouble, and if he didn't find the thief soon, he might very well be dead by nightfall. Glancing around, Seth dashed to the room Rath had just exited, and ran inside. It was an office of some sort… but one item alerted him that it was Cydandilus's room; a large spear with his name engraved upon it. Either Rath ignored it, or hadn't had time to take it down. Narrowing his eyes, Seth ran to the desk and emptied all of the drawers. He had to help Bakura, but any information he could get on the machine would save the palace of Egypt later, and unfortunately for Bakura, that was Seth's primary mission.

 

“Damn that woman,” Seth growled, shifting through papers, “We need some time before she attacks, but she sounds in a hurry. I just hope that thief's alive. Sith might actually kill me if I screw up… aha!” Seth found a whole report Cyd had written about the mentioned weapon, and grinning, he put it inside of his suit, closing the drawers. He had to make it so that it appeared no one had entered at all. When he finished, he slipped into the hall again, and silently tread it in case someone happened across him. The hallway winded and twisted, and the walls didn't reflect any crystal light from within. He realized Rath had physically altered the interior; it was made of stone, not crystal as when he first came here. He knew Sith would be infuriated to hear of that.

 

“I just hope the stairs are close. Bakura should be up the next floor, if what that Esper said was true,” Seth said to himself, as he continued along the halls. For minutes, he continued in the dark, not knowing or caring where he actually was going. Twice, he nearly tripped on loose cobble, and twice, he cursed Rath for what she did to the icy fortress, but finally, he came to an area spilled with soft torch light. A second later, he saw a stairwell leading upwards. He grinned again. That had to be where Bakura was being kept. Quietly, he ran up the stairs, coming face-to-face with a door. Using Sith's key, he found it swung open, and indeed, led to the observatory. The chamber was lit, and he saw Bakura chained to a wall, blood dripping off of him, but as Seth walked, he soon hit a wall of solid air.

 

“Damn this!” he yelled, and pounded on the glass, “Bakura! Bakura!! Look over here, you moron!” Unfortunately, the glass blocked all source of sound, at least from the outside inwards. Bakura didn't appear to have heard Seth as he continued to mumble to himself, his eyes dimmed. Seth frowned. He could see Bakura was shaking, and had grown paler from the amount of blood he lost. He also heard whatever it was Bakura was saying.

 

“Don't hurt Sith… don't hurt my Sith,” he mumbled, his eye twitching as he spoke, “Don't care about me… don't attack… palace… not Sith…” Seth's eyes watered. He felt pity for the thief. It was obvious that Rath beat the poor man up a bit before her meeting with her underling. Seth closed his eyes, focusing his magic on anything he could think that would shatter glass, and unleashed it within the minute. Lightning sprayed from his body, but didn't destroy the invisible barrier. He cursed.

 

“Geh! I'll need to find an alternative…” he growled, and looked around the small hallway. There was nothing there, however, and he knew he'd have to backtrack. It made him all the more annoyed to have to do so. Sighing, he left the observatory and went back down the stairs onto the third floor. Seeing as how there had been nothing on the East wing, where he had climbed the shaft to, he set down toward the West wing, where the bedrooms sat. Many of the rooms were turned into cold, dungeon-like offices, and each one he passed made Seth shiver as he looked into each room. They all looked the same; he didn't know which one was Sith's anymore, not that she'd have anything to help him here anyway. Finally, though, he stopped at a large, gray vent. He felt warm air coming out of it, and glancing around his shoulder to see if anyone had followed, he grinned and pulled on the grate. At first, it didn't budge, but his superior Esper strength pulled through, and soon the grate had been ripped off the vent, clashing loudly onto the ground.

 

“Damn it!” Seth hissed at himself, “We're going to be caught if I keep making all this noise!” Deciding it best not to stick around for any longer than necessary, Seth crawled into the vents. It was dark, but a quick spell cast a soft light around Seth; though once he saw the walls, he wished he kept it dark. The walls were coated with grease, and smelled strongly of vomit, though he was sure that wasn't what it actually was. He could hear water dripping, and though his stomach turned with the thought of actually moving forward, he forced himself to go on. Slowly, ever so slowly, he crawled through the vents, careful not to make any noise as he continued along. When he did stop, just minutes after, it was only because he heard Rath again. He was on top of another grate, which was above the audience chamber far below. He looked down.

 

“It's beautiful, Katsaiga!” she exclaimed, her eyes glinting with greed, “You have patched this well! Oh, my uncle would be so pleased… except that we're destroying his homeland with this beautiful weapon.” Seth's eyes narrowed. The weapon looked like a very, very large cannon, but there were crystals all around it, each crystal giving off colored lightning as it fed into the cannon's engine. The sight scared Seth, and he began to wonder just what sort of damage the cannon would do. He didn't want to find out.

 

“It should be charged within the hour, Lord Rath,” Katsaiga said, “Is the prisoner ready?” Rath chuckled, and grinned. Seth didn't like that look.

 

“He has been subdued. I will fetch him,” Rath replied. Seth cursed. He had to find Bakura, and he had to find him now. Wasting no more time, Seth scrambled through the vents, taking any path leading upward. The Observatory took all of the fourth floor; any path leading upwards would open up into it eventually. But, by Ra, the crawl seemed so slow to Seth, as he began a soft ascent up a sloping vent. It seemed as though every minute was being dragged out, as though every heartbeat he had lasted an eternity. Only a shrill scream below sounded his attention, and as he looked through another grate, he saw he was near the Observatory stairs again, but on the other side from which he had started. Rath was on the other side of the grate; the shadows hid Seth perfectly, though.

 

“I nearly forgot the Observatory key!” she exclaimed, and then left for another room farther away. Seth sighed, relieved that she was gone. He found another sloping vent, and climbed it. Now, he could hear Bakura again, who was still mumbling to himself about something. Seth shook his head. Bakura was in a lot of pain, and he hoped the thief could hang on just a bit more. But the climb seemed to continue on, with no end in sight. Seth was getting incredibly frustrated, and hoped Sith didn't expect him back that night. It felt like years had passed, and then centuries until he finally, finally came to the grate on the other end. It opened up into the observatory. Grinning, Seth kicked the grate down, where it clattered onto the marble floor. He clambered out, and nearly gasped. The observatory had looked beautiful just a day before. But now… it looked like the most terrifying torture chamber he had ever seen or read of.

 

“Who's there!?” Bakura demanded, the noise from the grate snapping him out of his trance. Seth blinked, and then looked to his left. Bakura was still chained on the wall, looking around frantically as he said, “Are you Rath!?”

 

“No, Bakura. It's me, Seth,” Seth replied calmly, deciding that yelling at the thief wouldn't help matters at all, “Sith sent me.” Bakura stopped struggling and simply smiled. That must have brought his spirits up to endless heights.

 

“Knight Sith actually sent for me to escape?” he asked, “…I… I'm touched! How is she? Is she all right? Does she have Diabound with her?”

 

“She's fine, and yes, she has Diabound,” Seth stated, getting slightly annoyed, “But forget about her for now. We need to get out of here. Rath's coming back up. She's going to take you and use your energy for some weapon that she's firing at the palace.” Bakura blinked, not sure he had processed that correctly, but he understood they were in danger. He nodded, and with his head, jerked toward the desk.

 

“Rath put the key to my chains in there,” Bakura told him grimly, “She unchained me… and I kicked her, so she simply chained me back up. If you get me down, I'll blow the bitch apart.” Seth laughed, not actually sure Bakura could really do that in his current condition, but he ran to the desk and quickly upturned all of the drawers. Papers and small tools scattered across the floor as he worked, but finally, he found the key. It clanked onto the floor, and like Sith's key, it was long and silver. However, instead of the Crest of Aeroglyph on it, it had a globe. It wasn't originally for Bakura's chains. Taking the key, Seth thrust it into one of the chains, but it didn't click open. Bakura glared down and asked, “What's the matter!?”

 

“It's this blasted key, thief,” Seth growled, though his anger was directed to the key in question, “It doesn't appear to fit the lock!”

 

“That's impossible! It worked before!” Bakura exclaimed, though he kept his voice low in case Rath was close by. Seth tried again, but when the key snapped, he was forced to give up. He threw both pieces onto the ground.

 

“Either she switched the keys or she mutated it for you,” Seth told him, throwing his arms up as he slumped to the floor, “Is there another way to break the chains?” Bakura's lips thinned. He didn't actually know if there was. He hadn't seen any crowbars, sticks, or poles they could use to snap the chains, and even if there were, magic would render such tools as useless. He sighed, wishing he could break out himself.

 

“I have no idea,” he finally said grimly, “See if there's a knife or something you could use.” Seth sighed, and forced himself off of the ground. He had to help Bakura, but this seemed unfairly difficult. He looked around where the desk stood, now in a heaping mess of drawers and scattered reports. Nothing was there that would help. The prong near the fireplace might do, but it looked rusted and old, as though it'd been sitting there long before either Sith or Sceppiro had been born. Finally, though, his eyes rested on a metal pole in the far right corner, hidden in half by thick shadows cast from the low-burning fire. That might just prove thick enough to help. Grinning, Seth walked over and picked up the pole. It was heavy, but serviceable.

 

“I think I found something,” Seth replied, and walked back, showing Bakura the pole, “Will this work?” Bakura raised an eyebrow as he examined it. The pole was made of a metal ore not found in Egypt, or at least one he'd never seen. It was thick, and if he remembered, any type of metal rendered magic nearly useless.

 

“It should help,” he said, “Just hurry it up. She's coming.” Seth cursed, and slammed the pole into the chain clamping Bakura's left leg. It clanked, and another slam snapped it apart as it fell to the floor. Seth repeated it with the right leg, but when he got to Bakura's arms, those chains were much stronger. Rath obviously didn't want the thief to simply escape. He slammed the right arm chain a few time, but it refused to snap away. Finally, his strength began to give, as he was exhausted from the prospect of sneaking around through the citadel at all. When he panted, Bakura told him to stop.

 

“What kind of magic is this?” he asked the thief, though he didn't actually expect Bakura to know the answer. The thief sighed.

 

“One that I doubt even Sith's sword could break,” he replied grimly, “Rath is serious. She wants revenge on Sith and her brother. But why capture me?” Seth had no answers, and as he opened his mouth to speak, the Observatory door opened. There stood Rath, with not one, but two underlings by her side. Seth recognized the one to the left as the woman, Katsaiga, who had given Rath her initial report. The second woman, slightly younger with a black cloak and brown hair, Seth didn't know. Rath took down the solid air wall, and smiled cruelly when she saw Seth.

 

“So you are the one sneaking around behind my back!” she exclaimed, her cold eyes narrowing, “I must say, for a priest, you are quite the agent. I'm also surprised you lived through Ultima. I'm to assume my cousins are alive as well.”

 

“Hopefully, they're working on a way to kill you as we speak,” Seth replied bitterly, wishing now that someone had gone with him; there was no way he could stop three Espers, “But yes, they're alive. And they sent me to rescue this thief.” Bakura snorted, obviously not pleased with his reference. Seth, however, ignored him as he kept his eyes solely on Rath. She didn't seem at all daunted by the news of her cousins' health.

 

“I'm sorry to say that you won't be fulfilling their orders,” Rath stated darkly, “Those chains were fortified with magic coming from the ancient Runes left to us by the Esper gods. No mortal, Esper or not, can break it. Bakura isn't going anywhere.” Seth growled. This made things just so much worse for them. Rath turned to her two subordinates and said, “Kill him.” Katsaiga drew a long staff as the second woman held out her left arm, an orb shining in her palm. Seth closed his eyes, and suddenly threw out a Thunderstorm spell, something he didn't ordinarily do. The two women went flying into the walls, sliding to the floor uselessly. Bakura's eyes widened with such power.

 

“How the hell did you do that!?” he asked as Seth said, “…Esper magic! I forgot, Sceppiro turned me into an Esper for the while.” He and Bakura both smiled at each other, and then both turned to Rath, evil grins on their faces.

 

“So, in another futile attempt Sceppiro placed some of his magic into you,” Rath stated bitterly, “How interesting, but how useless at the same time. You won't…” Rath didn't finish as Bakura vanished, only to slam into her a moment later, his old binds clinging uselessly to the walls. She fell to the floor, screaming in shock, and immediately, Bakura took Seth's hand and dragged him out of the observatory as Rath screamed for anyone who would listen to stop them.

 

“How did you do that!?” Seth asked, as they ran down the stairs, as a loud rumble was heard, “You just escaped your bonds!”

 

“Don't know,” Bakura wheezed as they ran, “Always happened. I've always escaped after a bit of time being chained up. But enough of that. The castle's changing again.” Seth raised a brow, and then noticed the stairs were moving. And, they were going up like an escalator, despite how fast they were trying to run down. Everything indeed was shifting their shape, for reasons Seth couldn't even begin to comprehend. It was as though someone outside was rebuilding the castle.

 

“What do you mean changing!?” Seth demanded, as the stairs came to a shaky stop, forcing them to slow for fear of being thrown down, “Bakura, this castle changes!?”

 

“Not originally, but Rath's using some sort of magic to twist everything around,” he replied, looking around the new tower they were currently standing in, “The palace originally had three floors. Now, it had four, but who knows what else she's added. My guess is, she doesn't want us escaping.” As he ran down the stairs, with Seth following, the priest's eyes narrowed in annoyance. Anyone could've figured that out with how she sent her cronies after that. They ran down winding stair after winding stair, but it didn't seem that the stairs would ever end. Finally, they passed a window that overlooked not the continent as Seth expected, but the ocean. The castle was flying away.

 

“Does Sith know this can happen!?” he asked Bakura. The thief's lips pursed.

 

“If she does, then she forgot of it,” he replied grimly, “We're in trouble. Unless you can teleport us, we're going to go swimming once we leave this place.” Seth hated that; he barely knew how to float let alone swim across an ocean. But unless they wanted to wait for the citadel to fly over land, they had no choice. He sighed; it was obvious this was a new feature. He doubted Sith would hide this from him.

 

“We'll have to cross that bridge… or ocean… when we get to it,” he said sternly, and they both continued running down the stairs again. Finally, after what felt like years of running, the stairway ended in a narrow, stone tunnel. Seth definitely didn't remember it as they ran through to get to another part of the ever-shifting palace, and because of the movements in the walls, they were forced to a very slow walk. Every rumble from the interior felt like an earthquake to both priest and thief as they scurried as fast as they could through the new halls. They encountered frightened soldiers and magicians as they ran, but no one gave them notice as they escaped.

 

“Do you think the front door's still in the same place?” Bakura asked through a gasp of breath as they went up a steep ramp that rounded into another hall. Seth shrugged. He had no idea what they should've been expecting. Finally, they came to a small room, and desperate for just a tiny rest, Seth dragged Bakura into it, closing the door. The single light on the table revealed it to be a bathroom, much to Seth's dismay. This little excursion was turning into a joke very quickly.

 

“It's hard to see why it would be considering the rest of the castle is playing Musical Chairs with us,” Seth finally replied, his voice kept low to avoid detection, “This little trip is starting to really rank badly with me. Don't you have anything that could help us?”

 

“Rath took everything away when she captured me,” Bakura replied regretfully, “I suppose I could try and call Diabound, but he can't cross an ocean without help.” Seth shook his head at that. Diabound would attract way too much attention. They had to be covert with this. But there was just too much confusion! And, with no way to actually use it to their advantage, they were as good as sitting ducks. Seth had considered pounding a few Espers for a suit of armor for Bakura, but then he realized people would still recognize him. He had a feeling that Sceppiro's spell was wearing off, anyway. Sighing, he slumped to the floor. There had to be something! Bakura looked at the toilets and asked, “What if we rip them apart and go through the sewers?”

 

“I've had enough of these sewers to last three lifetimes,” Seth told him, waving the suggestion away, “If anything, we'll have to go through the outside…” Seth stopped, as he heard footprints right outside of the bathroom. An angry hiss followed, and Seth whispered, “What was that?” Bakura said nothing, but he shook his head as well, having no idea if they were followed or not. Both men prayed they weren't, but as they heard the speaker, they knew they had escaped by a hare's breath.

 

“Those scum said they saw our two guests run this way!” Rath exclaimed, “Where on earth are they, Ruon!?” Seth blinked. This wasn't good; Ruon either double-crossed him or had been caught himself. The Esper in question puffed a bit, and Seth hoped neither thought had actually occurred.

 

“Sorry, Ma'am. I guess someone saw wrong,” he replied casually, and Seth relaxed a bit, “I was simply told to inform you. But I didn't see a thing.” Seth inwardly laughed. A false report surely made Rath all the more sour that day, though he did feel bad for all Espers who would be dealing with her from then on.

 

“Then do not come unless you have proof, you incompetent twit!” she scolded harshly, and then left the hall. Bakura cracked the door just a peek to see if she had actually left. Ruon passed, and gave him a wink, knowing fully that they had been hiding. Then, he too passed the bathroom. A moment of silence reigned in the tiny room until Bakura finally looked over at Seth and asked, “Should we go?” Seth hummed. They probably should've been running, but even then, they could get themselves lost. And if they were unable to hide in that instance, they would probably be killed. It was a hard choice, and finally, Seth forced himself to make it.

 

“Yes, let's get out of here,” he said, getting up off of the marble ground. Bakura silently threw the door open, and outside, Espers were yelling and running as the citadel shifted again, shaking loose crystal shards and rocks as it did so. It was absolute chaos! Seth couldn't think of a worse state for the palace to be in, but at least no one would be focusing on them. He and Bakura slipped into the crowded hall, and weaved silently toward the end, where the banister now led toward the large staircase. Seth growled; the front door was right there, but everyone was blocking their way in! People pushed, shoved, rammed, and sometimes just stepped on everyone else in an attempt to flee, but no one seemed to realize that there was nowhere to run. He was about to just jump when someone screamed and said “THERE THEY ARE! LORD RATH, I'VE FOUND THEM!” Seth's eye twitched. He recognized the voice, and now aside from the servants and guards trying to run, Rath was coming toward them with men… or rather, women of her own.

 

“What do we do!?” Bakura asked him frantically, as he saw Rath coming toward them, pushing everyone else aside as she went, “She's coming!” Seth's frown deepened. He already anticipated that, and looked down the banister. It was a steep drop, but there was an alternative cushion below… though Seth did hate having to harm others to get where he needed. But unless he wanted to die, he had to. He grabbed Bakura's wrist, and turned them both to the banister.

 

“Jump,” Seth said, and Bakura glared at him in complete and utter shock.

 

“…did you just say JUMP!?” the thief asked, but right then, Seth threw them both over the banister, which smashed under their combined weight. They fell down ten, twenty, thirty, and then forty feet before slamming into a crowd of people far below. Screams and whimpers sounded, but Seth ignored them as he dragged Bakura off the ground and toward the front door. He was vaguely aware that Rath was screaming orders to stop them, but either no one heard in the confusion, or no one wanted to listen to her. They made their way to the front doors and burst out of them, landing in the courtyard. Rath was close behind, but that didn't matter. Seth ran on until the courtyard abruptly ended, overlooking the vast ocean. His eyes widened.

 

“Don't tell me we're jumping that!” Bakura exclaimed, looking down as well, “We'll never make it!”

 

“We don't have a choice, thief,” Seth grumbled, “Do you want to be killed, or do you want to go home?” Bakura's lips thinned. He did want to get away from this place, but he doubted severely that they could survive such a plunge. But, as he saw out of the corner of his eye, Rath had already made it out of the front doors and was advancing toward them, with Ruon behind her. Seth and Bakura backed away as close as they could to the edge, and her grin grew, seeing that there was nowhere for them to actually run.

 

“You two should give up,” she told them, “There is nowhere left for you to go.”

 

“I'd rather die than go back with you!” Bakura exclaimed angrily, his fists clenching. Seth glanced at him, and then at Rath, who looked amused with the outburst. She snorted with amusement, and then shook her head.

 

“Why? Why go back to the losing side?” she asked them, “Why fight against me when it's actually my cousins you should be worrying about? Don't think they're as loyal to you as you seem to be to them.” Bakura growled, but Seth raised a concerned brow. He didn't understand what Rath was talking about. Were Sith and Sceppiro going to attack Atemu? When he asked, Rath shook her head and said, “Of course not. But are you so sure you feel as safe knowing their power surpasses yours as well? What were to happen if something broke them to extreme measures? Do you honestly think they'll hold it in?” Seth narrowed his eyes. He didn't know Sceppiro's limits, but he guessed only a few things would drive Sith to insanity.

 

“If you kill the pharaoh, I'll make sure we all kill you,” he said dangerously, “Is that why you're attacking Egypt instead of destroying Nesce altogether? To drive your cousins off the cliffs of madness?”

 

“No, but I will admit it would make sense as to why the Espers joined my side,” Rath replied slowly, “However… the pharaoh isn't the only person I can manipulate to get to them. Do you find it odd that they'd ask you to rescue a criminal?” Seth's eyes narrowed further. Yes, it had occurred that the request was unusual, but he also knew Bakura had a power which no one else had, aside from Diabound obviously. That was all he needed to know.

 

“If you're going to make us turn against our kingdom because of one request, think again,” Seth told her, smirking. He glanced at Bakura, who gulped and nodded, and turned back to Rath as he said, “Catch us if you can.” With that, both men jumped right off of the cliff, plunging down far below. Seth could barely hear Rath scream, and didn't even see her overlook the cliff to see where they'd fallen. All he saw was the glassy surface of the blue ocean sprawl out as he came closer to shattering its depths. And then, he and Bakura crashed through the placid water, diving into the cold mass. Now, nothing could be heard save for the roar of the strong current. He didn't know where he was, or where he'd be taken, but anywhere away from Aeroglyph was fine… for now. The current was fast as it shooed them from the ocean, and finally into calmer waters, where they finally resurfaced. Bakura gasped for air as he looked around. All he saw was ocean on all sides.

 

“Where the hell are we?” he asked, as Seth came up next. Seth glanced around, but had no true idea. He had never gone as far as the ocean before, and now he became aware that Egypt might be very far away. And, he was stuck with Bakura. Both thoughts slammed into him and threatened to make him scream bloody murder as he considered his own decisions.

 

“…I think we're lost,” Seth replied simply, trying to keep a hold on his emotions. Screaming at Bakura wouldn't do anything; it wasn't the thief's fault they were stranded.

 

“What gave you that idea!?” Bakura asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he stayed afloat, “Was it the fact that we're surrounded by ocean, or the fact that there's no desert for miles on end?” Seth growled. He didn't have the time or patience to deal with Bakura and his rude remarks on Seth's frantic decision. He wanted to blow up, but he forced himself to think of a positive solution; one that didn't involve killing Bakura.

 

“Calm down. If we swim, we'll eventually find land,” Seth told him calmly, “Once there, we can probably figure out where to go from that point.” He felt this was a sound idea, but judging by Bakura's expression, which consisted of disbelief and madness, it obviously didn't satisfy the thief at all.

 

“Do you have any idea how big an ocean is!?” Bakura finally exclaimed, “We could be swimming for years! Years, man, years! I don't know about you, but I want to be married before I'm thirty! I don't want to wait years to get home!” Seth sighed and shook his head. He doubted it would take years, though it could take a couple of weeks, less if they were extremely lucky.

 

“Listen, I know you hate doing anything useful, but unless you really want to die out here, we need to start swimming,” Seth told him sternly, “You're a thief, right? Can you tell where we need to go based on the sun's direction?” Bakura blinked, his left eye twitching. He didn't actually want to help anyone right then, but he did want to get home. Sighed, he looked up at the sky. Already, the sun was starting to set, and a faint set of stars began to twinkle despite the orange haze. Bakura's eyes narrowed. He had seen that constellation before. It was almost directly above the metropolis, no matter which way he turned to see it. He grinned.

 

“We swim directly south, and we should be within Egypt's shores soon enough,” he replied, “Thank the Gods for Nesce's sets of constellations. They're really easy to recognize, and that one's been hovering over the palace for over six years.” Seth didn't really care much for that; he couldn't even see the stars in the light. But nonetheless, he nodded, and both he and Bakura took off toward the south, as the thief had suggested. The water was frigid; he guessed that the citadel hadn't actually moved much at all, for traces of hard snow and ice still existed. But, he had to ignore them, and to ignore the numb in his legs. Egypt was still a ways away, and he couldn't afford to let himself… or Bakura… slack off from the cold. Thankfully, the sun was still out just a bit, giving them enough light to see where they were going. Hopefully, the stars would be able to take over when the sun finally made its descent. Hopefully. Seth would just have to wait and see, but for now, he continued onward, hoping that they were going in the right direction. Or at least, that they were swimming away from Rath, and from the citadel that used to be Nesce.

 

-----------------------------(End Chapter)

 

And so, Seth managed to find Bakura, but even more problems arise for the poor priest. Having just thrown themselves into the frigid waters, now Seth and Bakura must swim, and then walk all the way back to Egypt, and that's assuming they'll even get there, and assuming they'll survive such a swim. What will they say once they return, and will they be able to warn Atemu in time before Rath powers up her weapon? Can they rely on the help of the select few Espers in the citadel? And, can they tolerate each other enough to get back safely? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!